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--- from "Toxics in Massachusetts: An Earth Day Update"
--- by the Toxics Action Center: www.toxicsaction.org

I have tried to be factually correct using credible sources and links. Please inform me of any errors you may discover.

Contents of Grace Information on this Site

Announcements
Issues
Maps
Correspondence
History
Articles
Links
What's New

Announcements

Cambridge City Council Asbestos Ordinance Passes - Unanimously
at Monday, November 1, City Council meeting

Councilor Katherine Triantafillou had proposed some measures for protection from asbestos to be included in city ordinances. Public support of these additions convinced the City Council of the importance that the public places in the protection of health and safety of the community.

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The Issues

At last asbestos meeting sponsored by Grace, the Dept. of Environmental Protection representative said
STATE WON'T HELP, SAYS NEIGHBORS MUST PROTECT THEMSELVES.
State's watch ends when construction (and biggest hazard) begins.

If asbestos escapes during construction and lands in Russell Field, children from all over the city may be affected long after the bulldozers leave, because asbestos does not break down over time. Although there is 'no current risk' under current conditions (so the state isn't getting too involved), the danger is from stirring up the soil during construction, which is outside of state regulation. The City has the power to require additional protection during construction, by an ordinance submitted by Coucilor Katherine Triantafillou.

Background behind the proposed ordinance.

Column submitted to Cambridge Chronicle.

Notes about June 17th meeting will come sometime. Meanwhile, here's a transcript of some of the comments made by Jack Miano, the Dept. of Environmental Protection representative at the meeting.

Neighbor: Do you think that we as neighbors are justified in our concerns here, or are we somehow hysterical, paranoid, and overreacting here?

Mr. Miano: Justified.

Neighbor: What action will -- what action is the DEP willing to take to step in and have a little bit greater oversight over this process than has currently been the case?

Mr. Miano: I guess -- the way -- the way things are right now, this site is -- I'm working on this site, and I'm not actually officially assigned to it. So, still overall, Haley and Aldrich is more or less the watchdog.

And as -- as Stash Horowitz [Cambridgeport neighbor to the Polaroid development who earlier commented on the amount of dust generated from that construction site] points out, the folks in the neighborhood, you need to be your own watchdog, too. You need to continue to do that. If it was up to me, and if I had the authority, I would -- I would be there on site to watch every scoopful of dirt. But that's not going to happen because I have bunches of other sites to work on at the same time, and very rarely, if ever, do I get out to the field because we just don't have the resources.

So, sad to say, while these activities are going on, probably you aren't going to have anyone from DEP out there watching those earth-moving pieces of equipment. Somebody should be doing that, and if it could be me, I guess that kind of direction is going to have to come from high up in the agency.

[above from pages 129-131 of Volume II of the transcript]

Mr. Miano: In -- this last question is what is required, more or less, of Phase II investigation. Yes, you need to define the type and extent of contamination.

In this case there's -- there's a slight difference. And that is what needs to be done here is to define the extent of contamination, and a compromise has been made in that, in realizing that it's very difficult to do an adequate characterization for asbestos. Because of the limitations in sampling soil for asbestos, the compromise has been that an assumption will be made that there is a significant amount of asbestos over pretty much all of the site.

[above from pages 138-139 of Vol. II]

Notes about June 3rd meeting (see Chronicle article for more details)

As predicted, the last meeting was quite animated with representatives from Haley & Aldrich putting on quite a song and dance. They offered many statements to give a different impression of what had really happened, and kept getting caught. They even challenged the neighbors in a very demeaning tone in an effort to shut them up, only to be found trying to cover up those statements later. Unbelievable.

At the first hearing on June 3rd, there were so many other issues, regarding the petroleum hydrocarbon contamination and a large (31 foot long) oil tank they removed from an area that had asbestos (and that they didn't do any sort of asbestos containment during the removal), that the asbestos results and development plans were put off until a second meeting.

This should prove to be another animated meeting because asbestos was found throughout the site, even with the many flaws in their tests, but Grace apparently does not intend to do further tests until construction begins.  Neighborhood watchdogs intend to ensure that the environment and the community are adequately protected from exposure to this well-known cause of cancer, while Grace tries to justify their inadequate studies and plans in front of the public and the Dept. of Environmental Protection.

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Maps

The "Grace Site" is basically the area near the Alewife T station, east of Alewife Brook Parkway (Rts 2, 3, & 16), to the west and north of Russell Field, and north of Rindge Avenue (including Jerry's Pond) up to Whittemore Avenue.  Almost all of the site is slated for development

click here to get the full map

Here's an asbestos map with the places where asbestos was found marked in red. The magenta regions were "targeted" areas more likely to contain asbestos, which you can see are sampled less than the rest of the site. Sample locations are the gray dots and triangles. Notice all the areas where sampling is missing from where you'd expect to see it based on the grid pattern.

In addition to asbestos, there's a long list of other contaminants in the soil at high enough levels to pose a health risk.  Furthermore, the area that Grace wants to develop is in the floodplain of Alewife Brook.  The Alewife Brook Reservation, a protected wilderness area controlled by the MDC (Metropolitan District Commission), borders Grace's property.  Even if Grace provides flood storage as required by Wetlands Protection Act, the weight of the buildings will squeeze the "sponge" capacity of the floodplain area.  Local flooding will likely increase in this already flood prone area.

You may have noticed that the intersection at which the development will take place is the last traffic light before Route 2 West becomes a limited access highway.  This is the major route by which metropolitan Boston uses to get to the Northwest.  One thousand parking spaces are planned with the new development.  It currently takes 30 to 45 minutes to get from this intersection to the next traffic light at Mass. Ave. during the evening rush hour.  And with traffic comes air pollution, particularly when the cars are just sitting stuck in a traffic jam.

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Correspondence Related to the Public Information Process
Under Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection Rules

Here is the October 1999 Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection response to my June 1999 letter to Commission Liss on behalf of the Alewife Study Group.
It is in two parts:

Cover Letter by William Gaughan, Regional Director, Northeast Regional Office, in which he states, "the Northeast Regional Office has assigned one of its most senior technical staff to review assessment and response action plans and to provide technical input to W.R. Grace on its proposed actions at the site."

Internal Memorandum by Jack Miano, Bureau of Waste Site Cleanup, to Mr. Gaughan addressing the issues in my June 1999 letter, in which he sates, "with respect to public welfare, maintaining public trust and providing adequate notice and risk communication, the Department feels that W.R. Grace and Haley and Aldrich were not sufficiently conservative or pro-active during the UST removal." ... "Future violations of the [Asbestos Dust Management and Monitoring Plan] will be construed by the Department as noncompliance and will be responded to with appropriate actions."

Airborne Asbestos Management & Monitoring Plan - Comments by Jack Miano, BWSC.

This is my June 1999 letter to Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lauren Liss, requesting that a deeper investigation into the potential misconduct of Wesley Stimpson of Haley and Aldrich, the Licensed Site Professional overseeing the contamination clean-up, representing the DEP at the Grace Site.

Here are my further written comments regarding the Asbestos contamination Results and Plans, sent as part of the DEP's Public Involvement Process. [7-JUL-99] These comments supplement those made in my May 1999 letter to the DEP (see below).

Draft of Response by the Public Health Dept. of the City of Cambridge regarding the Asbestos Management and Monitoring Plan proposed by Haley & Aldrich. [2-JUL-99]

Asbestos Management and Monitoring Plan proposed by Haley & Aldrich.

Here are my written comments regarding the Hydrocarbon contamination Results and Plans, sent as part of the DEP's Public Involvement Process. [22-JUN-99]

My May 1999 letter to the Mass. Dept. of Environmental Protection regarding the lousy job Grace did in carrying out the asbestos sampling plan they proposed, the insufficient additional testing they plan to do which is supposed to fully characterize the site, and the outrageous conclusions they draw from the tests so far. Map with asbestos sites in red.

My October 1998 letter to Haley and Aldrich, then later to the Mass. DEP, questioning the sampling plan.

Correspondence by Others

Two letters responding to the asbestos documentation by
Lew Weitzman
Eugene Taylor, PhD

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History

Here's a brief history of the Grace site. Let me know if something important is missing.
Brief History of Grace Site

At this time, I don't have much to add beyond what can be found in the links below.

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Articles in the Cambridge Chronicle and/or TAB Newspapers

"The state has told W.R. Grace that the firm's plan to monitor and manage cancer-causing asbestos on its North Cambridge property is insufficient."
State says Grace plan falls short - August 12, 1999

"'The proposed plan is not sufficiently detailed and complete to be considered adequate for the development of the property to which it applies,' said a report by the city-commissioned Environmental Health & Engineering Inc."
"Jack Miano, an environmental engineer at the DEP, said..., 'The concern about asbestos is definitely a reasonable concern.'"
City not satisfied with W.R. Grace's asbestos plan - July 15, 1999

This July 8, 1999 column by Joe Joseph adds to the following article about the Environmental Subcommittee meeting.
W.R. Grace proposal full of problems - July 8, 1999

Here's the Cambridge Chronicle article about the City Council Environmental Subcommittee meeting held on June 28, 1999.
Neighbors call on council for Grace oversight - July 1, 1999

Front page article on the June 3rd meeting at Grace.
Neighbors fume at W.R. Grace plans - June 10, 1999

Related article about MBTA Carmen's Union efforts to have a federal investigation into health problems of workers at the Alewife T Station and tunnels (which pass under the Grace Site).
Union asks feds to probe Alewife health claims - June 10, 1999

Here's an article about the potential conflict of interest of the supposedly independent overseer of the Grace Site's latest contamination problems, who has had a long history of working with Grace in the past.
Ex consultant to chemical firm oversees hazardous waste removal - Apr 16, 1998

Council opts for limited rezoning of Grace site - Jan 14, 1999

The Alewife Study Group won a 1998 Cambridge Peace and Justice Award for its efforts in North Cambridge.
Event honors peace, justice award winners - Oct 8, 1998

City tests confirm asbestos at Russell Field - Aug 13, 1998

City awaits more test results on Russell Field - Jul 16, 1998

Asbestos Found in Grace soil - June 25, 1998

In the article above there are a few quotes by Dr. Ron Goldstein, a professor of pulmonary medicine at Boston University School of Medicine:

"But if they repave the area or do new construction, and the asbestos gets kicked up into the air, that would be extremely dangerous."

"That's a lot of asbestos. It's unusual to find such large concentrations in the ground. I haven't heard of such high levels."

"The exact amount of exposure necessary for it to be harmful is not known. But asbestos is a very dangerous substance."

"Especially in a location in a city, removal is a major undertaking. It has to be studied carefully to make sure it is done safely."

Russell Field listed as a top contaminated site - Dec 9, 1997

Council approves funding for soil tests at Russell Field - Aug 7, 1997

And a moderately related link to a column I wrote for the Chronicle regarding overdevelopment (as I see it) in Cambridge.
Protection from development needed - Mar 11, 1999

Unfortunately, I've had problems reaching the Cambridge Chronicle links with my older version of Netscape (pre-Java I believe), although my newer browsers work fine.

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Interesting Links

The Alewife Study Group has been working to protect the Alewife are of North Cambridge. Their web site is a works-in-progress
Alewife Study Group at www.alewife.org

Some additional history can be found at their previous web site
www.civic.net/asg

I ran across this amazing site with a lot of material about just how bad W R Grace really is. Unfortunately, it has been shut down. I'm keeping the link in case it somehow gets back up and running, but I doubt that will happen.
www.brown.edu/Courses/Bio_Community_Health168C/wrgrace.html

Since 1987, the Toxics Action Center has assisted more than 200 neighborhood groups fighting pollution in their communities.
www.toxicsaction.org

Health Links

Grace has proposed a risk assessment indicating the threat of asbestos which may become airborne.  This
document from the National Resources Defense Council shows how children can suffer from most risk assessments.
Risk Assessment: Are Children Its First Victims?

Another NRDC Report:
Our Children at Risk: The 5 Worst Environmental Threats to Their Health

has two particularly interesting chapters.
Chapter 2: Children's Special Vulnerability to Environmental Risks

and the other is of concern not just from the contaminants that will be stirred up during construction, but also from the pollution from additional traffic:
Chapter 4: Air Pollution

Asbestos and other cancer links:

I've compiled a summary of asbestos, its health risks, and its relation to the Grace Site in, I hope, simple terms.

Asbestos Awareness from Oklahoma State University

How Asbestos Harms the Body Graphics by the Sacramento Bee newspaper.

Questions and Answers About Asbestos Exposure by the National Cancer Institute

"For example, the time between first exposure to asbestos and the appearance of lung cancer is generally 15 years or more; a lag of 30 to 35 years is not unusual.  The lag period for development of mesothelioma and asbestosis is even greater, often as long as 40 to 45 years."

Maybe you're not concerned for yourself, but what about the kids who play on Russell Field.

Asbestos - Still a Carcinogen from the May 28, 1998 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Mesothelioma Newsletter - about the cancer of asbestos

Overview of cancer mechanisms, a tutorial discussion for physicians at Queen's University Department of Surgery, so the terms may be somewhat technical.

The Asbestos Danger Part of a series by the Sacramento Bee newspaper regarding an asbestos quarry.

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What's New

Okay, none of the site is old, but I often update the site more than weekly. When I get a chance, I'll list what I've added here from latest to earliest.
30-NOV-99: Added Camb Public Health Dept comments and Asbestos Mgmt Plan
11-NOV-99: Asbestos Ordinance Passes!
10-NOV-99 A: DEP response to Grace on Asbestos Management Plan per PIP
10-NOV-99 B: Old Chronicle article when asbestos first found at Grace; good quotes
9-NOV-99 A: DEP response to June 1999 letter
25-OCT-99: Added Column to Chronicle about Asbestos Ordinance
18-OCT-99 A: Added link to Sacramento Bee graphic on "How asbestos harms the body"
18-OCT-99 B: Added links to Sacramento Bee article on asbestos found
14-OCT-99: Added background info on Asbestos Ordinance
17-SEP-99 A: Statements from DEP rep. at Grace Meeting
17-SEP-99 B: Note about stale link to Brown website